I Belong

Please welcome author Page Morgan here today for the first day of her The Lovely & The Lost Blog Tour! The Lovely & The Lost is the second novel in the Dispossessed series following The Beautiful & The Cursed. Page is here to discuss the churches that inspired the setting for the abbey that her characters live in. Want to know our thoughts on this series? Read Bridget’s reviews for The Beautiful & The Cursed and her review for The Lovely & The Lost by clicking on their titles.

A huge thanks to Page Morgan for today’s giveaway! One lucky reader will win 1 signed paperback of The Beautiful & The Cursed and a signed hardcover of The Lovely & The Lost plus signed swag!

About Page:

I’m the author of The Beautiful & The Cursed, a young adult novel about two sisters who, on their mission to find their missing brother, discover a veiled world of gargoyles and demons in the city of Paris. I’m currently writing the second and third novels in this series, which saps most of my brainpower. I live in New England with my husband and our three children, along with our ancient dog and arrogant cat, quickly sap the rest of it. I accept virtual gifts of coffee, chocolate, and cupcakes.

In the series The Waverly’s live in a beautiful abbey during the 1800’s in Paris. There was just something about this setting that fascinated me so I asked Page to tell us what real life churches inspired her to create such an amazing home for these wonderful characters. Enjoy learning a little history and maybe you will now be able to better visualize what the abbey in the book looks like.

It can’t get any more Gothic than living in an ancient and derelict abbey, right? Especially one covered in stone gargoyles. I wanted a little creative license when it came to the Waverly’s new home, so instead of using an actual church in Paris, I decided to make L’Abbaye Saint Dismas an amalgamation of many Paris churches.

I took the twin bell towers and the insane number of gargoyles on my fictional abbey from the famous Notre Dame. It took over two centuries to build Notre Dame (the 12th through the 14th centuries) and its Gallery of Chimeras is home to the gargoyle that caught my imagination and inspired the Dispossessed series to begin with.

I based the interior of L’Abbaye Saint Dismas on the oldest church in Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Pres. Built in the 6th century, it has an exciting history (fires, Viking attacks, gun powder explosions during the Revolution!) but it was the slim nave, the vaulted ceilings and the choir that I loved about Saint-Germain-des-Pres. It’s a little run down these days, but the fact that it’s still standing after so many centuries is impressive.

When I decided my character, Vander Burke was going to be studying to be ordained, I chose to have him at the American Church in Paris. It makes sense for him, considering he’s American. But in 1899 the gorgeous copper-topped church that stands today on the quai d’Orsay wasn’t there. Thank goodness I caught that historical blunder before the book went to print! Instead, Vander would have studied at the church’s original site on rue de Berri, off the Champs Elysees. Sadly, the church is no longer there and I wasn’t successful finding anything more than a short description of the building.

And while I didn’t use it at all in the books, I can’t talk about my favorite churches in Paris without mentioning the small but beautiful Saint Chapelle. Right on the Ile de la Cite, tucked away in the courtyard of what is today the Palais de Justice, this little chapel was built just to house the famed Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus. The stained glass windows are simply beautiful and impossible to describe. Even pictures don’t do them justice, though as you can see, I tried!

For readers of Lauren Kate’s Fallen series comes the sequel to The Beautiful and the Cursed, The Lovely and the Lost finds the Waverly sisters in mortal danger and able to trust no one.

Ingrid and Gabby Waverly moved to France expecting a quiet reprieve from London gossip, but the truth they face in their new home has a sharper—and deadlier—sting.

Paris is plagued by an underworld of demons and gargoyles who all seem to want something from the Waverly girls. Saving Ingrid’s twin, Grayson, from the fallen angel Axia nearly killed them. And they’re still being hunted—only this time, demons aren’t their only predators.

Ingrid’s blood is special: it bestows the power to command gargoyles. It’s an ability no other human has, and in the wrong hands, it could be used to send her cursed guardian, Luc, and his fellow Dispossessed to extinction. There are those who will do anything to get Ingrid’s blood—and they see no value in human life.

The Alliance has vowed to protect the Waverlys, and a new gargoyle has been assigned to guard their abbey home alongside Luc. But no one can watch over Ingrid, Gabby, and Grayson all the time—which means the three must learn to fight for themselves.

Because darkness follows the Waverlys. And sometimes darkness comes in the form you trust the most.